Npr s chris arnold reports.
Green roofs npr.
With green roofs that water instead of going into the drain and polluting the environment ends up just evaporating the atmosphere through the leaves of these plants.
The increased urbanization of towns and cities has resulted in less green space and more impervious surfaces.
Green roofs for healthy cities grhc is the north american industry association for the green roof and wall sectors.
Green roofs are also known as vegetative or eco roofs.
But now some of those roofs are going green.
A green roof is a roof that has grasses or plants all over it and the idea is not new.
Although there are no precise definitions of them an extensive green roof has a shallow growing medium usually less than six inches with a modest roof load limited plant diversity minimal watering requirements and is often not accessible.
They fall into three main categories extensive intensive and semi intensive.
Many of them can t take foot traffic.
Then we imagined what the city could be like if all of its roof space was green.
Large enough green roofs such as commercial vegetative roofs may even reduce the risk of local flooding during heavy rain.
Green roofs soak up stormwater reducing its impact on local plant and animal habitats.
We took a field trip to the largest green roof in new york city.
Instead they re like green skins layers of vegetative matter that grow directly on.
Commercial green roofs are not roof gardens.
Modern systems help mitigate the heat island effect create habitats filter pollutants sequester carbon and even increase agricultural and amenity space.
Green roofs have become natural fits for many public buildings as well thanks to large scale environmental and financial benefits such as energy efficiency storm water management sound insulation and the development of habitats for birds and other urban creatures.
In the most basic sense green roofs are a layered combination of vegetation and membrane over a building that can help insulate and provide water management.
And then there s what scientists call the heat island effect which basically means that cities are significantly warmer than the surrounding areas.
Npr s ketzel levine reports.
Grhc develops and protects the market by increasing the awareness of the economic social and environmental benefits of green roofs green walls and other forms of living architecture through education advocacy professional development and celebrations of excellence.
Can you collect water runoff from a green roof.
